Chapter 8: Prom Night

He did not see much of Helen in the next week or two and nothing from up close. Sometimes he would catch her looking at him from across a classroom and then she shrugged with a sad smile. She did not move with Taylor’s clique either and from what Danny heard through the grapevine, Charlotte Konig had succeeded to bag Taylor at that picnic. Danny also noticed that Gonagle was constantly watching over Helen. He suspected that Gunderson had given the word to the principal to keep his daughter away from Danny or Taylor and that Gonagle got the job to enforce this.

Danny did not care much. These were his last weeks at Triple-P. He and Ashley would go on a four-week trip to France, a graduation present, and they had talked Tyler and Marsha into throwing in a ticket for Lynn. Paris, the Loire Valley, and the Languedoc-Roussillon were on their schedule and Danny looked forward to it. Yes, things would be looking up after graduation.

Still, there would be the traditional and tedious end-of-school year events to get through. Traditionally, Triple-P’s prom would be held outside the campus, at an old hotel that could boast a ballroom. Danny had already decided to keep out of it. He would pay the admission fee, show up briefly and disappear early. There was not a single girl at Triple-P whom he could ask. They were all either card-carrying members of Taylor’s fan club, going steady with other guys or unattractive to him. Not that he minded much. He would soon leave Triple-P and probably never see any of his fellow students again.

The final tests came and went. Not that anything mattered to Danny. He had his acceptance letter from Penn. The proud look from Tyler Westbrook had been heart warming for Danny. Not that he was alone in achieving success. Ashley would also enter Penn on her achievements. As a reward, Tyler and Marsha would put 25,000 dollars each into Ashley and Danny’s savings account, giving them both a chunk of wild money for emergencies. It would be great for them to attend college together, after having missed out on the sibling experience before.

In the last days before prom night, Triple-P’s student body became a bit crazy. The girls’ voices were at least one octave higher than normal with all the excitement and nerves were frayed. Charlotte Konig was in constant hyperventilation since her wish to have Taylor as her prom date had been approved. That had been a bone of contention since Taylor would fail and repeat the sophomore class. However, Charlotte prevailed on the argument that male seniors were allowed to bring sophomore girls as their dates.

The one girl who did not join in the hyperactivity was Helen Gunderson. She was strangely detached from the proceedings, mostly having her lunch alone now in a corner of the cafeteria and staring at her plate morosely. Somehow, Danny began to feel sorry for her. He suspected a major blow-up at the Gunderson’s house as the reason. He just hoped that his own contribution to the merriment had not gotten Helen into even deeper doo-doo and so one afternoon, he sat down and wrote a short letter.

Making sure that Gonagle was not around, Danny slipped the folded note into Helen’s locker.

At breakfast on the next morning, Helen gave him a wink from across the cafeteria and he knew that she had found the note and taken it well. In return, he found a note in his own locker.

Danny sighed. He could feel Helen’s depressed mood in her letter. It was too bad that she had a bunch of assholes for a family.

Marsha had decided that as Tyler Westbrook’s son, Danny had to have a set of suits and a tuxedo for formal events that were certain to come. This was not something that Danny relished, but Marsha had been so welcoming to him that he could not deny her anything. Thus, when Prom Night came, Danny was decked out in a tailor-made tuxedo, highly polished shoes, gold cuff links, and a heavy silk tie. It felt weird to be sure, but he could see surprised looks on the faces of his more affluent class mates when they registered his outfit. The kicker was when Grant Tailor made his entrance with Charlotte Konig on his arm, wearing a rental tux that showed a few shiny spots from stain remover. Danny allowed himself a grin.

“Hey, FNG! You better register early for tux rental in the next three to four years.”

Snap! Taylor turned beet-red at the taunt. He had not achieved passing grades and would have to repeat sophomore year.

“Mind your own business, asshole!” he snarled, unfortunately within hearing of the principal.

“Mr. Taylor, you will behave yourself or you will have to leave! Miss Konig, have your date behave! Mr. Westbrook, not everybody has a billionaire for a father.”

“Yes, sir. But most others knew enough to make reservations in time. Besides, he’s supposedly this big Hollywood actor, but now he looks like Charlie Chaplin on bad suit day. You’ll have to admit, sir, it’s funny as hell.”

Mr. Marlowe’s mouth twitched. He was clearly not a fan of Taylor.

“Be that as it may, it is not appropriate to make fun of underclassmen,” he said with meaning.

Danny could not let this opportunity pass. “Then I may never be able to make fun of him, sir.”

Charlotte gave him a vitriolic glare, but he couldn’t care less. He gave her an ironic salute and sauntered off to be with a bunch of other seniors who had come stag. Sipping on a Coke, he watched the circus around him. The small part of the room left free for dancing was crowded already, with a few desperate guys and girls milling around the dance floor and hoping to find partners.

Just then, a panicky Gonagle was seen zig-zagging through the crowd. Danny grinned. The guy had probably let Helen out of his sight and could not find her anymore. Seeing Danny, Gonagle headed straight for him.

“Where’s the Gunderson girl?”

Danny shrugged. “I haven’t the foggiest. Why? Did you lose her? And shouldn’t you call her ‘Miss Gunderson’?”

“Don’t get fresh with me, Westbrook! Where’s the stupid bitch?”

“That’s Mr. Westbrook, okay? And again, I have no clue. Haven’t spoken to her in over four weeks. Try the gravity field around Taylor!”

“Stupid bitch!” Gonagle swore, rushing off. It was unfortunate that he was still unbalanced and under full steam when he stepped on a piece of banana, on the floor in front of the buffet. His crash landing was not heard above the music, but his cry of pain was. Immediately, two other teachers came running, while Danny and another guy named Leonard Buller helped Gonagle up. It was of no use. Gonagle had badly sprained his left ankle. They had to march him to the exit where the school nurse was keeping a vigil. Here they dumped him on a a chair and were on their way, his cursing still in their ears.

Some guys were cleaning up the offending puddle when Danny rejoined the group.

“He’s down for the count,” Leonard announced.

“Probably on injured reserve for the rest of the season,” Danny added.

There were chuckles. Gonagle was not well liked. He was not respected either. A few nasty remarks were made, but Danny was getting restless. Something was not right about Helen being a no-show. He too began a more or less methodical search, but she was nowhere to be seen. He glanced up at the balcony above the auditorium and thought that he might have a better look from up there. The narrow staircase leading up there was in the back of the room, behind the coat racks, and Danny found it unlocked as it had been for months.

Trying to detect Helen from the balcony was a great idea as he found out when he walked up the stairs. There was Helen, her back against the balustrade, sitting on the dusty floor. It was bad lighting up there, but when she heard him and raised her head, he could see the tears running over her cheeks.

“Hey, there you are. People were getting worried about you.”

“What people?” she asked.

“Well, Gonagle for one,” he offered. “Hell, I was getting worried. You’ve been looking ... I don’t know – maudlin, morose, whatever. The home front?”

She gave him a long look. “You really wanna hear my drama?”

“You wrote you’re my friend. So what’s up?”

“We’ve been fighting at home. I’ve been accepted at U-Penn and my trust fund will cover tuition and even housing. My father’s dead set against it. He’s ... he’d rather have me married right after graduation. Says he wants to see grandchildren.”

“Tell him to put Earl out to stud,” Danny quipped causing a wry smile on Helen’s part.

“I did and he slapped me.”

“You’ve got to be kidding!” Danny exclaimed. Irina had never touched him in anger. “What does your mother say to that?”

“Oh, Mom is ‘very disappointed’ in me. Very. She’s also of the opinion that Daddy Knows Best. She grew up on those old soap operas with the proper wives and their manly husbands who provided. It’s like living in the 1950s. How she can be related to my grandma I have no clue. She’s so cool!”

“Your grandma?”

“Yeah, Trudy. Gertrude Melville. Maybe you’ve see her work? She’s a freelancing photographer. Did all those great pictorials for Rolling Stone. I mean, she was an embedded photographer with Springsteen on two of his big tours. She started out as a groupie following the Grateful Dead and somebody liked her snapshots so much that they gave her a real camera. She also did reporting gigs in Eritrea and Somalia, right in the middle of the nasty shit.”

“Sounds like a great person.”

“Oh, she can be a kook. Once when we were visiting, she broke out her bong and took a smoke. My father just about shit! She’s my grandmother, but I’m not allowed to see her.”

“They have you under their thumbs, huh?”

Helen shrugged unhappily. “You don’t know half of it.”

“So tell me. Oh, shit, wait! This place is ratty. How about we split and find a nice restaurant? My treat. You can ask me shit too.”

“Gonagle will bring me down with a flying tackle before I’m even out of this building.”

“Nope. He’s out for the count. Sprained his ankle when he slipped on a banana while looking frantically for you.”

“For real? God, how I hate that prick! He’s enjoyed hounding me for the last weeks, I swear. Okay, where?”

“We could be in Allentown in a half hour. Fancy some liver pudding?”

“Ugh! But Allentown is a great idea. Can we just leave?”

“Hey, we’re both over eighteen. Marlowe can’t keep us from leaving. Plus, it’s Friday evening and we both have weekend passes.”

Helen came to her feet and looked over the balustrade. The modalities of the prom king and queen election were just announced. Helen shook herself briefly.

“Talked me into it. Let’s go and change?”

Twenty minutes later, they were back at Triple-P. Helen and Danny went to their rooms and changed quickly. The senior wings were deserted since everybody was at the prom. Ten minutes later, they were heading for the car park. They did not see a single person and found Danny’s car in the dark. Two minutes later, they were on their way.

“You’ll not really make me eat Dutch food?” Helen asked from the driver seat.

“What would you like?”

“Think they have a Moroccan place? Trudy made couscous once and I loved it.”

Danny shrugged. “I’m sure there’s an app for that.”

When they reached Allentown, he pulled to the side and consulted the internet. There were two places, but one looked more authentic. Danny reset the nav system, and in no time they reached the place. Parking was a bit tricky, but Danny solved that by parking the Mini at a gas station and giving the night shift guy twenty bucks as a bribe.

The place was hopping, but they only had to wait for ten minutes before a table for two was available. Talk about authentic! They had to sit on cushions at a very low table. A pretty young woman who showed her North African ancestry waited on them and pretty soon they enjoyed a first course of taktouka, a spicy tomato and green pepper salad. Next came a lamb couscous and it was everything Helen had promised. A dessert of kaab el ghzal, basically a very sweet almond paste Danish, and mint tea closed their culinary excursion.

Somehow the good food had put them in a better mood and none of Helen’s woes were mentioned. Instead they talked about their plans, their likes and their dislikes. Danny had to admit that Helen was no airhead at all. She had a much better grasp of literature and of politics than he, but she was woefully ignorant of all things not American.

It was only half past ten when they left the place after Danny paid the check. A few houses down the street there was some sort of club. Helen simply took his arm and pulled him along. The place catered to the New Age crowd with some Goth people sprinkled in, but for the heck of it they paid the admission fee and stepped in. The music was not blaring and they found a small table to the side where they could sit and talk.

The place had an extensive list of teas and coffees on offer. Danny settled for an Ethiopian coffee and Helen chose a spicy Indian chai.

“You know, this is a great date, Danny,” Helen said putting her hand on Danny’s. “I fucked it up. If I hadn’t fawned over Grant, my dad would have never found out about you and we could’ve had so much fun.”

“He would’ve had me checked anyway at some point, so don’t sweat the Taylor thing. Why’d you stop following him anyway?”

“There’s stuff Dad found out. There’s a reason he relocated to the East. They were investigating him for statutory rape. He made a huge pay-off to the girl and her family against her recanting her testimony.”

“Maybe, they just liked each other?”

“No, there was evidence of injuries. He beat her, the prick!”

“And here you are, dating me,” Danny grinned.

“Jeez, Danny. Your mom is an adult actress. Yeah, I’ve seen a few of her clips. She looked cute. She worked as an escort, right? It wasn’t like she was standing on a street corner. She raised you and you seem all right to me. My father’s the bigot, not me.”

“Yeah, she was really a good mother. She was always after me to do my homework and my assigned reading. She’s very smart too. She has the same head for math that I have. She just never had a chance to get an education.”

“That’s sad. Do you still see her?”

“Not as much as I like. But she’s changed her life. Somebody gave her a leg up and she took the chance. That’s why I live with my dad. She needed the break.”

“Did you meet any of those porn people or ... escorts?”

Danny smirked. “Not really. Mom was always good shielding me from the people she worked for.”

“Danny, why didn’t you ever try to ... you know, hit on me?”

“I never felt I was ... in your class,” he admitted blushing a little. “I guess I was self-conscious about my background.”

“You idiot! I was hitting on you and you kept brushing me off!”

“For real? I mean, you just about issued orders to me.”

“Yeah, I know. I thought I was the hot shit and every guy groveled in front of me. You didn’t. That’s what made you so interesting. But you always ... I mean almost any time we grew a little more friendly, you’d say some shit and make me mad.”

“Yeah, I have a bad timing sometimes.”

“Danny, do you feel attracted to me?”

“Huh?”

“Do you have the hots for me? Come on! This isn’t too difficult.”

“I guess I do,” he almost whispered. “You’re very pretty. No, scratch that – you’re gorgeous. And you’re not an airhead either. I guess I needed to diss you to ... you know, hide my feelings.”

“You’re an idiot,” she sighed. “But I guess I wasn’t much better. Okay, we’ve established that we both have the hots for each other. Does your phone have an app to find a cheap hotel?”

“Huh?”

“Jeez! Do I have to write it on a piece of stationary and have it notarized? Get us a hotel room and be quick about it ‘cause I want you to be my first. I want to get laid, and I want you to be the layer. I want you to pick my cherry. There! Clear enough? Jeez!”

“What about your father?”

“No. Never had that urge. I want you.”

“Ha-ha! No, what if he finds out?”

“As you said, we’re both of age. I’m legal to boff. I’ll give it to you in writing, but get me to a hotel first!”

She had a little tear in her left eye and Danny took her hand.

“I’m a little slow on the uptake, but I’d love to take you to a hotel. I won’t boff you either. I’m going to make love to you, Helen.”

“I’d prefer that. Now start making calls!”

The hotel had seen better days, but the night porter accepted their story about a broken-down car and their need to crash for the night. The room looked better than the foyer, at least when they stripped off the greenish bed spread. It was only then that Danny noticed the little bag Helen was carrying. It held a fresh bra and panties, plus a toothbrush and basic toiletries.

Danny himself was prepared since he always kept a change of clothes and other necessities in the Mini.

“You’ve been planning to seduce me?” he asked Helen who smiled back a little sheepishly.

“I thought we might have a chance.”

“I say we have. Hey, this tub looks clean and here’s some foam bath stuff. How about a bath to get over the awkwardness?”

“You just wanna see me naked!”

“Duh! You wanna do it fully clothed?”

“No, I guess not. Stupid me! A bath, huh? Together?”

“That would be the point. Helen, you want to go through with this?”

“Yes, absolutely.”

“Okay then. I’m letting a bath.”

It was a bit awkward to undress in front of each other. So far, they had not even shared a kiss. Once Helen was down to her underwear however, Danny went on autopilot. He’d known that she was more than pretty, but he’d never seen the perfection of her flat tummy, the line of her butt and thighs, the swell of her breasts. He actually held his breath when she hesitantly took off the bra.

“Helen?”

She flinched and looked at him. “What?”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For being here with me.”

Her eyes were fixating on the front of his jockeys. “You’re hard already.”

“I guess that’s important for one of the next steps, don’t you think? Come now. Let’s get in.”

The bath was not too hot and Danny lowered himself into the sudsy water.

“Sit in front of me with your back to me,” he instructed Helen.

She started but stopped. “Close your eyes!”

With a chuckle he obeyed. And then she was sitting in front of him with her back against his chest.

“You can open your eyes.”

He did. “Hey, not fair. I didn’t get to see you.”

“Believe me, you’re gonna,” Helen assured him. “So, what’s next?”

Danny chuckled. “We relax. Lean back.”

She put more weight against his chest. Danny let his hands run over her upper arms. Then he put his mouth close to her left ear.

“Helen, I would love to kiss you.”

With a small nod, Helen turned her head to give him access, and their lips met for their first kiss. When it ended minutes later, Danny’s hands were all over her chest and her tummy, and straying very close to her pubes.

“You feel wonderful,” he assured his bath partner.

Helen snuggled close. “So do you. That was a great idea, the bath I mean. Danny, there’s something I forgot. Did you bring condoms?”

“We’re covered there. I grabbed a pack. You’re not on the pill I take it?”

“Are you kidding? My mother would never allow that.”

“Okay, rubbers it is. They’re not so bad.”

“Have you been with a lot of girls?”

“Three.”

“The Finnish twins and who else?”

“Not going to tell. Sorry, but that’s one thing the women in my life drilled into me — no tattling.”

“That’s okay I guess. So, three. How many times?”

“Maybe twenty? I didn’t cut notches in my dick.”

Helen giggled at the mental image. “Did you learn stuff?”

“I guess. My last ... partner? Well, she is not really shy. She told me what she wanted.”

“You still seeing her?”

“That was the plan until tonight. I don’t know how you see us. Are we an item now? Are we heading somewhere together? Then the answer would be a ‘no’.”

He could feel her tense up a bit. “Can we table that until after breakfast?”

“Sure we can. Can we postpone my answer?”

“Sure. That’s only fair. So what’s next after the bath?”

“There is no plan. We cuddle, we kiss, and we’ll see where that’ll lead us. I might want to nibble on you. You look delicious.”

Ten minutes later the awkwardness was gone. They kissed and let their hands roam over each other’s body. The foam made their skin slippery and Danny was certain that he had never felt anything nearly as stimulating as Helen’s bare skin under his palms. He knew that Helen was cherry, new at this stuff, and he made certain to take his time and taking his cues from her reactions to each touch.

Helen might be innocent, but she was far from unresponsive. She squirmed deliciously in front of Danny, rubbing against his chest and his erection, and letting her hands run up and down his legs, swaying her upper body to increase the pressure of his hands on her smallish breasts. Those breasts might be small, but they had to be major erogenous zones for Helen as the stiff nipples under his palms and between his thumbs and fingers showed convincingly.

Slowly, hesitantly, Danny let one of his hands wander down her front and towards that patch of sparse blonde hair covering Helen’s pubes. Immediately, her lower body started a gyrating motion against his probing fingers and her legs opened to give him access.

“Oh, Danny!” she sighed in a dreamy voice. “Yes! Play with my pussy!”

He complied, mostly rubbing his flat hand over her mound and gauging her reactions. She liked it, that much was evident. His next move was to spread her pussy lips with his middle finger, rubbing the stiff digit along her slit, but avoiding her clitoris. To judge by her movements, she had other ideas. Ideas that she was able to vocalize.

“At the top, Danny! At the top!”

She exhaled sharply when he complied, dragging his middle finger over her open slit and her clitoris. A repeat of this produced an even stronger reaction and her pelvis pushed up against his finger and hand. That was when he let his finger slip deeper where he met with resistance.

“Ouch!” Helen complained.

Danny realized that he had encountered her hymen, and he pulled his finger back.

“Sorry,” he said into her ear, kissing the earlobe.

“Not your fault,” she whispered back. “It’s not like I don’t expect this to hurt a bit. Umh, Danny?”

“Huh?”

“Should we, you know, move our business to the bed? I think I want you to make me a woman now.”

“Get it over with?”

She nodded. “Yes. It’s supposed to hurt the first time, but the sooner we get it over, the sooner I can have the second time.”

“Okay, you call the shots. I’m just the executive branch here.”

“I can feel your executive branch,” she chuckled. “Let’s get out.”

Five minutes later, Danny stared down at a naked Helen lying on her back on the bed. She was looking up at him, watching him slip on a condom. She nodded and smiled and he smiled back at her before he got down on all fours to kiss her. They kissed for a minute or two, but then Danny moved his mouth down along her throat and to her chest. Her breasts tasted slightly of soap — not that he cared — as he suckled on the small nipples. Helen showed her approval by holding his head with both hands and directing his efforts.

It was time to move lower Danny decided when Helen’s hips began to move under him, trying to rub her pelvis again him. She moaned a little when he abandoned her chest, but then she opened her legs willingly. Obviously, Helen had read up on sex and was anticipating a little oral attention which Danny was more than willing to provide. Spreading her lips with the fingers of his left hand, he licked the sensitive flesh of her inner pussy lips from bottom to top, letting his tongue dive into the folds as far as he could get.

Helen responded almost violently to his assault. Her hips jerked upward and she grabbed his hair with both hands pulling his face into her crotch.

“Oh, yes! Oh, Danny! Yes! There! God! This is how I dreamed it!”

Encouraged, Danny increased his efforts and soon Helen changed from words to moans and incoherent babbling. Once, Danny looked up briefly to see Helen’s head thrown back in her lust, but he dove back in immediately. Her thighs began to clamp around his head, pressing and relaxing, and her pelvis started to undulate under his lips and tongue. Danny sensed that she might be close to her climax, and he sneaked his pinky finger into her well-lubricated anus.

“Omigodomigodomigodomigod,” she began to chant. And then, “OMIGOD! Danneeeeeee!”

Danny tried to stay in the saddle, so to speak, keeping his lips glued to her pussy, but she very nearly threw him off when she convulsed in her climax. He kept licking up her juices but kept away from her clitoris to allow her to come down from her peak. Not completely though. When her spasming receded somewhat, he crawled up between her legs and aligned his straining erection with her sopping wet opening. Helen stared up at him with her eyes crossed, still a little bit out of it, but when he bore down her eyes popped open wide.

“Ouch!” she said weakly, but he had gained entrance already.

He was hovering over her with his dick about two inches inside her and looked into her eyes.

“Ready?”

Her eyes showed understanding and she even smiled as she nodded. Danny pushed further in, gaining another inch, and Helen’s eyes widened again. He paused until she nodded again before he claimed the next finger width. It took perhaps five minutes before he was seated in her pussy, but then he rested on his elbows and kissed Helen softly.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded emphatically. “Oh yes! Try to move a bit, will you!”

Danny gave her another kiss and withdrew a little before pushing in again, and Helen gasped into his mouth.

“I’m so full!”

“Beats the old hairbrush, doesn’t it?” Danny blurted before his brain caught up. For once, he reacted quickly. “Sorry, that was a stupid line. Please, forget it!”

“You can’t help being an ass, can you?” Helen said a little sadly.

“You want me to... ?”

“Don’t you dare! Come on! I won’t let one stupid wisecrack screw things up. I know you, don’t I? You’re an ass sometimes, but you can also be very sweet. Concentrate on being sweet, okay?”

“Okay. Ready for more?”

“You bet. Show me what this is all about!”